When there are situations that cause me to feel truly overwhelmed and somewhat anxious; I always reach for my rosary and pray the Sorrowful mysteries. During Lent especially I try to pray all five decades each day as my offering of time I could be doing other things. I meditate on these because when I walk with Mary and Jesus through these events of their life; I know my angst is just temporary. It’s unimaginable that I’d ever survive seeing one of my own children brutally beaten, humiliated and then forced to carry a heavy cross on the way to crucifixion as Mary witnessed, but these events really happened. Our Blessed Mother suffered alongside her beloved Son and no one can comfort us like she can.
For many years I would just “say the rosary”—unintentionally reciting the Our Fathers and Hail Mary’s that I could cover in about twenty minutes. I thought I was praying. When I learned to “pray the rosary” as Mary intended—I experienced substantial spiritual growth and insights. Meditating and reflecting allowed me to reevaluate my challenging situation and feel more peaceful and enlightened. The difference between saying and praying is significant. Our Blessed Mother truly walks with us when we pray to her this way. She not only assuages our emotional discomfort, but also protects us from evil influences.
How can the rosary also be such a powerful prayer weapon against evil?
In Dwight Longenecker’s enlightening book, Praying the Rosary for Spiritual Warfare he shares the following commentary,“It came to me that the Blessed Virgin Mary joined her will perfectly to God’s will when she agreed to be the mother of his Son. So, when we pray the rosary we join our will with her will and with the will of millions of others who also pray the rosary. A kind of spiritual chain is established, involving millions of Catholics all joined together in prayer, linking our wills with the will of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all of us saying to God, “Thy Will be Done.”This corporate act of the will establishes a powerful presence in the world and acts as a spiritual buffer and antidote to the poison of evil.”
When we are in pain or agony our instinct is to turn to someone who loves us—who will comfort and give us advice? The better way is to actually imagine you are living at the time of Mary and Jesus and you are truly walking in their shoes--you will be emotionally transformed as you imagine the pain they really suffered and how they faithfully relied on God, the Father. This small change of using the rosary as a tool to heal by praying it radically changes how you see your existing situation.
I’ve also wondered why Our Blessed Mother referred to this first decade as the Agony in the Garden. She could have used any similar adjective but, “agony” represents truly unbearable pain. This first Sorrowful Mystery is the most impactful for me. Meditating on the unfathomable agony He felt as He battled the pain of leaving his disciples and living out His Father will to the cross effects me everytime I pray. Agony goes beyond the experience of human suffering as we know it. It’s pain beyond our comprehension. He suffered in that beautiful garden as a man—fully human. He suffered as well in the desert, but He followed the will of His Father perfectly and trusted the outcome in spite of Satan’s temptations.
When you think of someone in agony—you imagine they are being tortured beyond belief. Our Lord’s physical suffering came much later, but here in the garden He was experiencing grave emotional agony. Much like us—there are those days and moments in life when we too are asking our Father to possibly let this suffering pass. Our Lord prayed in that garden to the point of sweating blood.
As a parent we all can imagine the extremes we’d consider preventing someone from hurting our child---the lengths we’d go to stop the pain are limitless! Whenever I pray these mysteries my path is clearer regarding the direction God wants to take me and I feel peaceful resolve that I’m not alone. I think of Mary as a mother and I find strength and confidence in following her example. Trusting in God is hardest when the suffering is unbearable. Praying it and not just saying the prayers is what makes the difference in how this spiritual gift can offer transformative grace and immediate relief from grave emotional distress.
Every day in our own circumstances we have people who impact us in tortuous and agonizing ways. Sometimes those that hurt us can be closest to us. This is where Satan attacks. Social media also makes it easier to be attacked for our views and it’s very harmful to feel this emotional torment. No matter how spiritual we are or how much we pray—there are people who are in our lives whom we can’t control and knowing how to process our pain is not easy. We have situations that seem so hopeless and we are prone to wonder— “where’s God in all of this”, “why isn’t He lifting me out of this”, couldn’t He let this situation be resolved in a way that wouldn’t cause me so much pain and heartache?”.
One solution might be just taking five minutes and reflecting on these Sorrowful events, praying the prayers and focusing on what was going on in the lives of our Lord and His Mother. Mediating on the lessons these reflections can teach us provides a quick benefit. His suffering was redemptive because it created a pathway to our own salvation.
His acceptance of His cross in complete abandonment to His Father’s will coupled with obedience and trust are the lessons He gave us. We can’t receive these lessons in our hearts if we don’t invest time to intentionally pray. Jesus and His mother are simply waiting for us to come to them each day so that they can comfort us as they know best.
This Lent is a perfect time to begin a new way of approaching those garden and desert life situations where healing with the rosary can become an effective heavenly resource unlike any other.